When I put tacos on the menu this week, I went to the blog to search for the recipe to remind myself of what I needed to pick up at the store. I’ve been making this same taco meat recipe for a while now, I can’t believe I haven’t posted it here yet.
This is a very straight-forward and classic tasting taco meat recipe, but it’s made a lot healthier by sneaking in a ton of fresh veggies and it using fresh spices instead of those sketchy seasoning packets. Try it!
It’s been approximately 15,000 degrees in Boston for the past week or so and I am OVER IT. I like summer for its activities (cookouts, beach times, general good times/moods), but NOT for the weather. I tend to “run hot” and can get down right surly when overheated. So, it makes me wonder why over the last week I’ve made things, such as pizza, which requires a 500 degree oven, or polenta, which requires near constant stirring over a hot pot for a good 40 minutes. Not wise. In typical fashion, I waited for the heat wave to end to make something that requires little cooking/heat/effort. I actually made the filling to these lettuce wraps (which is yummy, by the way) on Sunday when I had some extra time, and just had to reheat tonight and serve with some crisp baby romaine leaves and some brown rice on the side. Perfect light summer supper.
So we’ve been doing the low-carb thing for a couple weeks now. It’s recipes like these that keep me keepin’ on. I love so many things about eating limited carbs, except for the obvious lack of pasta. BUT, to the defense of this diet/lifestyle, there’s no shortage of cheese (hello, lover), meats, eggs, and veg – also many of my favorite foods. I actually feel a lot more energetic and “lighter” eating this way, so it’s all good.
Oh, and by the way, this dish is AMAZING. Tender (but still with a little bite) spaghetti squash with perfect meatballs, tomato sauce, and melted cheese? How bad could that be. It’s the first time spaghetti squash hasn’t pissed me off – that’s saying a lot since I’ve given it a lot of chances subbing for pasta. I used Mario Batali’s tomato sauce recipe which is my go-to recipe for quick-cooking tomato sauce. I also used my favorite meatball recipe for the meatballs (I subbed almond meal for the bread crumbs), but use whichever is your favorite. Same goes with the sauce. For this dish, instead of frying the meatballs, I just dropped them in the tomato sauce to cook for about 35-40 minutes. I did this, along with cutting and de-seeding the spaghetti squash, ahead of time on the weekend, so come weeknight, it was a very easy dinner to put together. Perfection.
Melted goat cheese? Why have I never melted goat cheese before? This smells (and tastes) divine. It is a simple make-ahead recipe too, which I love to do on Sundays to make weeknights easier. Just make the filling, stuff the peppers, and refrigerate. Pop them in the oven on the night you’re ready to serve them and poof – instant dinner. Please try it with the goat cheese before you get all crazy substituting the cheese. The goat really makes this recipe.
Ah, the first meal in a new home. It needs to be comforting. Seasonal. Easy. This meatloaf (served with pancetta brussels sprouts and whipped sweet potatoes) was all of those things. Kept moist (again, sorry) by shredded apple, flavored by fresh sage and covered in a gravy made of apple cider and caramelized onions – it’s a keeper.
Oh, this burger. The avocado aioli! The melty pepperjack! The cilantro! The moist (sorry) turkey! All of the things. Favorited.
I’m all about tacos right now. I made some healthified tacos for the kids this weekend (not sure if I’ve ever “formally” discussed this before, but my boyfriend and I have his teenaged kids every other weekend so I get to put my mommy hat on from time to time). Mmm, I’ll have to blog those tacos someday, they were GOOD. BUT, today we talk about tacos for grown-ups. These tacos feature homemade chorizo sausage, spicy poblano peppers, and sweet potatoes — one of my favorite vegetables. Add some pickled red onion, greek yogurt, and pepperjack cheese and you’ve pretty much got a party. You can of course substitute with regular chorizo (the mexican kind, which comes uncooked), but I wanted to lighten this up a bit.
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I apologize in advance to any family members I may offend with this post, but this is definitely my favorite meatball recipe. The combination of ground turkey (I always have some of this in my freezer) and ground pork makes a super tender and flavorful meatball. I browned these in some olive oil before dropping them in some gravy, all to be served with pasta. These meatballs are also delicious on their own or with your favorite tomato sauce.
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Ever have a cheeseburger craving that just won’t quit? MAKE THIS SOUP. It tastes EXACTLY like a cheeseburger, but is much better for you. This recipe makes a ton, but it you freeze some leftovers, you can have a cheeseburger whenever you like. 🙂
This is another restaurant fave — however, in restaurants, the green beans are typically fried. These are broiled, much healthier, and delicious.
This soup is super light and totally hit the spot for my chinese food craving. I always order wonton soup at chinese food restaurants, but it’s really easy to make on your own, too. Use whatever veggies you have on hand — next time I will definitely throw in some pea pods and maybe some steamed broccoli.
I’m way into pretty summer foods right now. You know what I’m talking about. The eye candy factor of summer food totally trumps other seasons…and while I am desperately waiting for my favorite season (fall) to arrive, I am biding my time enjoying some nice color.
Since I had some extra ground turkey leftover from my indian pizza, I decided I would make some turkey burgers. I wanted to try something new other than my go to turkey burger recipe, and I had all of these ingredients in the house — big score after a long week. These burgers were easy, super flavorful, and packed a nice bite.
The first couple of times that I made this pizza, I burned the crap out if it, yet, mind you, still ate it and loved the flavors. I figured that I’d wait to share the recipe for a time that I didn’t burn the crap out of it, since I knew I’d be making this over and over again. Well, friend, behold this awesome indian pizza. It is such a great combination of flavors, and super easy to throw together (especially if using store-bought dough). Since I am always trying to use up my spices so I can keep a fresh stash, I made a homemade curry powder blend, but feel free to use your favorite store blend.
I’m always looking for new ways to cook up ground turkey since we buy a lot of it in bulk from Costco (where else). Last week, I got bolognese in my head and have been searching for a suitable recipe ever since. Why do all bolognese recipes vary so much? And why do some of them take 4 hours and some take 45 minutes? Thoroughly confused, I ended up blending together some Anne Burrell, Emeril, and Tyler Florence recipes for a yummy result. This took a little over an hour, which was much better than Anne’s recipe which literally would have bordered on 4.5-5 hours. Give this a shot next time you’re craving a meat sauce!
I am in love with this tzatziki sauce. I seriously can (and do) eat it straight from the bowl. If you’re unfamiliar, tzatziki is a cold sauce made out of greek yogurt, cucumbers, and other amazingness. It’s super great on sandwiches (like this one), fish, or as a dip, or straight up.
Also, this turkey burger is amazing. Seriously. Maybe my favorite yet. Get yourself the regular ground turkey, not the breast — it makes all the difference in the world.
I feel like I say this after every chili recipe, but I mean it this time: This is my new favorite go-to chili. This chili has some unusual ingredients for me (salsa…canned green chiles…taco seasoning), but I also love all the veg and it has TONS of flavor without being really spicy at all. Also, I made corn muffins out of jiffy cornbread mix with a half cup of sour cream mixed in. Best corn muffins EVER!
Martha calls this the “favorite turkey burger”. I have to say, it was delicious! And since I always have these ingredients around, it’s a great go-to. I served these with some ridiculous sweet potato skins (recipe soon!) and a green salad. Yum.
To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much out of this dish. It was the end of the week, and I had some ground turkey and a big bunch of kale that never made it into what I had planned for them earlier in the week. What to do? Make a loaf of meat, that’s what. This is fool-proof and really pretty good. Continue reading
When I told my favorite vegetarian friend that I was making pupusa tacos for dinner, she endearingly asked me if i was making tacos out of puppies. Although I’m sure that would be delicious, I instead chose frozen Goya pupusas. When I traveled to El Salvador a few years ago, we went to a restaurant that was entirely devoted to pupusas, which are fluffy corn tortillas that are stuffed with cheese or beans and cheese. These were, by far, my favorite Salvadoran food stuff. So why not make an overstuffed open-faced taco with them?
Just the Tip 